Continuously feeding apparatus for rolled webs

ABSTRACT

A continuously feeding apparatus for rolled webs which connects the leading end of one web to the terminal end of another web with each other to continue the feeding of webs with easiness, cleanness and reliability, and comprising a pair of support arms to support a pair of rolled webs; a pair of guide rolls each of which is held by a pair of swingable arms and being shifted to and from the center portion of the apparatus, and further each of said guide rolls comprises a cylindrical tube having a plurality of apertures on the peripheral wall thereof and inside of which is fed with vacuum to adhere the leading end of one web to be connected; and a plurality of other guide rolls to guide said webs.

United States Patent Kawazura et al.

I Apr. 29, 1975 [75] Inventors: Minoru Kawazura. Tokyo; Shigeru Watai.lchikawa. both of Japan [73] Assignee: Toppan Containers Co.. Ltd..

Tokyo. Japan [22} Filed: Nov. 3. W72

[2 ll Appl. No.: 303,516

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 5. I97] Japan 46-10357 l52|US. Cl 156/504; 242/584 [Sll Int. Cl B6Sh 19/18 [58] Field of Search242/581. 581584.585; 156/502. 5H4. 505. 506. 507

{56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1035.682 3/1936 Wikle242/584 X 2.613.042 ill/I952 Dice i. l56/5ll4 X 3.|32g544 5/l964 Jones156/502 X 3.188.015 6/1965 Kuslcr 242/584 X 3.44(l l26 4/l969Bartholomay 242/584 X 3.753.833 8/[973 Bassctt 242/584 X PrmzuryE.\'wnim'r.lohn W. Huckert Amixmn! Examiner-John M. .lillions Anm'neAgent, or FirmWigman & Cohen 1571 ABSTRACT A continuously feedingapparatus for rolled webs which connects the leading end of one web tothe terminal end of another web with each other to continue the feedingof webs with easiness. cleanness and reliability. and comprising a pairof support arms to support a pair of rolled webs; a pair of guide rollseach of which is held by a pair of swingable arms and being shifted toand from the center portion of the apparatus. and further each of saidguide rolls comprises a cylindrical tube having a plurality of apertureson the peripheral wall thereof and inside of which is fed with vacuum toadhere the leading end of one web to be connected; and a plurality ofother guide rolls to guide said webs.

7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENIEDAFRZSIBIS SHEET 10? 3 CONTINUOUSLYFEEDING APPARATUS FOR ROLLED WEBS This invention relates to acontinuously feeding apparatus for sheet materials such as rolled paperor synthetic plastic film. More particularly. the invention relates to asplicer which connects the top or leading end of one rolled ready web tothe terminal end of another running web automatically to carry out thecontinuous feeding of the webs.

In the ordinary splicer which feeds the rolled webs continuously. twowebs are placed on both sides of the apparatus. and the sheet of oneside web is fed through appropriate guide rolls. and when the sheet ofthe web is passed near to the terminal end thereof. said end is adheredto the top end of another web. thereby the continuous feeding of thewebs is carried out. In such apparatus, however. the to end of the webto be con nected is applied with a strong adhesive on one side and witha weak adhesive on another side. in which said strong adhesive is usedfor connecting the top end and the terminal end of the webs. while theweak adhesive is used for attaching temporarily the top end of web to aguide roll. When one web is fed nearly to the terminal end thereof. theguide roll which being attached with said top end of another web ispushed to the terminal end of the former web material. thereby the topend of the web is adhered to the terminal end of the web by the strongadhesive. while the top end is peeled off from the guide roll as it istemporarily adhered by the weal; adhesive.

In this case. the weak adhesive remains on the connected portion of theweb and is passed to the succeeding apparatus as it is. Thus. suchadhesive clings to other succeeding guide rolls and processing apparatusto cause several troubles. For example. the speed of feeding is reduced.the sheet material is wrinkled. and the quality of the product islowered.

Therefore. the object of the present invention is to provide anapparatus for feeding the rolled webs which is free from theabove-mentioned disadvantages.

Further object of the invention is to provide a splicer for continuouslyfeeding the rolled web smoothly and reliably.

Still further object of the invention is to provide a splicer which cansupport easily the top end of the web to be attached to the terminal endof another web.

Still further object of the invention is to provide a splicer which cancontinuously feed the differently sized webs.

Pursuant to the above objects. this invention proposes a splicer whichcomprises a pair of support arms to support a pair of rolled webs. apair of guide rolls each of which is held by a pair of swingable armsand shifted to and from another roll, and a plurality of other guiderolls to guide said webs to appropriate directions and finally to thesucceeding apparatus. Further. each of said pair of guide rollscomprises a cylindrical tube having a plurality of apertures on theperipheral wall thereof and inside of said guide roll is connected to asource of vacuum so as to adhere the top end of one web to be connected.Thereby the top end of the web can be held by the feed roll withoutusing adhesive until it is connected to the terminal end of another web.and the adhesive is applied only on one surface which is to be adheredto said terminal end. thus after the adhesion of the two sheets of webs.the adhesive is not exposed to the remainder of the apparatus.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood. a preferredembodiment and other features will now be described by way of exampleand with reference to the accompanying drawings. in which:

FIG. I is a front elevation of a splicer of an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the same cmbodiment to show theoperation thereof;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial sectional view showing the attachmentportion of the feed roll;

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view of the feed roll;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line \/-V in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view ofthe web in the waiting state to beconnected; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the webs which are just connected witheach other and are different in their widths.

Now referring to FIG. I and 2. the embodiment of the present inventionwill be explained further in detail. The numeral I denotes the bed ofthe apparatus. and the right and left side which are provided withsupport arms 2 and 3, respectively. The support arms 2 and 3 supportrespective core shafts 4 and 5. on which webs of paper of syntheticplastic films 6 and 7 are rolled. The numerals 8 and 9 are pressurerolls to impart the feeds of webs with resistance.

The front and rear portion of said bed I are provided with struts I0 andII and the upper ends of said struts l0 and II are attached to a pair offrameworks 12. respectively. In symmetrical relation to the strut. pairsof support pieces I3 and I4 are attached downwards. and between saidsupport pieces 13 and I4. and said struts IO and II, pairs of guiderails 15. I6 17 and I8 which are made of pipes are provided in thehorizontal direction, respectively. Thereby the guide mechanisms areformed.

Respective pairs of the above-mentioned guide rails I5, I6 and I7, I8are provided with sliding pieces I9 and 20. Further, between a pair ofthe front and rear sliding pieces 19, a shaft 21 is attached. and nearthe both ends of said shafts 21. pairs of swing arms 23 and auxiliaryarms 25 are swingably provided. While. a shaft 22 is in like mannerattached to the pair of front and rear sliding pieces 20, and pairs ofswing arms 24 and auxiliary arms 26 are swingably attached to the bothends of said shaft 22 in the left side of the apparatus. The free endsof said pairs of swing arms 23 and 24 are provided with guide rolls 27and 28 which guide the webs 6 and 7 to the upper direction, and the freeends of said pairs or the auxiliary arms 25 and 26 are provided with aircylinders 29 and 30. The piston rods 3I and 32 of said air cylinders 29and 30 are attached to said swing arms 23 and 24. Further. a pluralityof guide rollers 33. 34, 35, 36, 37, 38. 39 and 40 are provided betweenthe struts l0 and II, and the frameworks I2.

A box 41 which contains an electric motor is attached to the strut 10 inorder to move the abovementioned sliding pieces 19 and 20, and thetorque of said motor is transmitted through chains 42 and 43 to thesliding pieces I9 and 20 engaged therewith. further in order tosynchronize the movements of the sliding pieces I9 and 20 on the rearside with those on the front side. axles 44 and 45 are provided throughthe support pieces I3 and I4 and said chains 42 and 43 are engaged withthese axles 44 and 45. thereby the sliding pieces 19 and 20 on the rearside can be moved also simultaneously by the rotation of said motor.

Between the struts Ill and ll. cutters 48 and 49 are prmided whichrotates on axles 46 and 47. and are operated by air cylinders 50 and 5].respectively The numerals 52 and 53 are guide rollers for the feeding ofweb materials.

With regard to the principal members. i.e.. the guide rolls 27 and 28.further explanation will be made referring to FIGS. 3 to 5. The numeral54 denotes a core metal tube of the guide roll 28. and the outer surfaceof said metal tube 54 is covered with rubber material 55 to providestrength and elasticity to the roll 28. A plurality of apertures 56 aremade on one side in the middle portion of the guide roll 28. This guideroll 28 is provided with a support shaft 57 along the axis of said roll28. and one end of said support shaft 57 is closed. The guide roll 28 issupported at the both ends by bear ings 58 and rotatably sealed bypackings or oil seals 59, where said bearings 58 and packing or oil seal5) constitute supporting members 60 which are air-tightly fitted to theends of said guide roll 28.

The peripheral surface ofsaid support shaft 57 is provided with aplurality of apertures 61, and both ends of the shaft 57 are put outfrom both ends of the roll 28. The projected ends of said shaft 57 aresupported by swing arms 24 and one end of said support shaft 57 isattached with a flexible tube 62 which is connected to an appropriatevacuum source. The numerals 63 and 64 indicate fixing members for thesupport shaft,

Each of the above-mentioned auxiliary arms 25 and 26 is provided with aworm gear 65 which is engaged with a worm 66. and said worm 66 isconnected to a sprocket 67 by way of a pair of bevel gears (not shown).Said sprocket 67 is driven by a motor through a chain. and the motor isinstalled in a casing 68 which is fixed to the sliding piece 20.

The operation of the splicer of the present invention having theabove-mentioned structure will be explained in the following.

The web of rolled paper or plastic film 6 is attached to the supportarms 2 on one side. and it is fed to an appropriate processing apparatusthrough the guide roll 52. the guide roll 27 and other plurality ofguide rolls. In the meantime, another web 7 of the same size or different size is fixed to another suupport arm 3, and the top end of saidweb is fitted to the apertures 56 of the guide roll 28. at the same timethe inside of the roll 28 is reduced in pressure by a vacuum sourcethrough the flexible tube 62 and the support shaft 57. thereby thelatter web is kept in the waiting position. In this case. the motor inthe box 4| is operated by a switch of the control box (not shown) toshift the swing arm 24 to the outside ends of the guide rails l7 and 18.and at the same time. the motor in the box 68 is also driven and theauxiliary arm 26 is swung to the out side through the sprocket 67. bevelgears. worm 66 and worm gear 65. thereby the swing arm 24 and the guideroll 28 are positioned as shown by the chain lines in FIG. 2.

In this position. the top end of the web 7 is stuck to the guide roll 28by vacuum. and the other side of the top portion of web is then appliedwith proper adhesive or double sided self-adhesive paper 69. Then theswitch is operated to shift the guide roll 28 to the posi tion near thestruts l and II. In this state. when the presently feeding web 6 ispassed near to the terminal vacuum within the guide roll 28 is releasedand the cutter 48 is operated simultaneously by the action of the aircylinder 50 to cut the web 6. Accordingly. the portion of double layerwebs 6 and 7 is very short.

As disclosed in the above. the splicer of the present lll invention ispossible to connect the top portion of one web 7 to the terminal portionof another web 6. thereby the continuous feeding of the web material canbe accomplished without any difficulty. Thus a long term continuousoperation can be performed by repeating the above operations. Further.shown in FIG. 7. the

differently sized web material 7' maybe connected also in the samemanner with ease.

As explained in the aboi e. it is not necessary to apply the adhesive toboth sides ofthe top portion of the web material. therefore no problemsare caused in the succeeding processes and the quality ofthe product canbe improved. Further. the clinging of dust and rust by the adhesive canbe prevented to reduce the maintenance work of the apparatus includingthe splicer itself and succeeding ones.

Thereby. easy. reliable and clean operation of the continuously feedingapparatus of rolled webs can be carried out.

it should be emphasized. however. that the specific embodiment as shownherein is intended as merely illustrative and in no way restrictive ofthe invention.

What is claimed is: l. A continuously feeding apparatus for connectingthe leading end of a ready rolled web to the terminal end of a runningrolled web to continue the feeding of webs. comprising a pair of supportarms mounted on a frame for supporting said rolled webs. a pair of guiderolls. a pair of swingable arms mounted on said frame for supportingeach of said guide rolls. each of said guide rolls including acylindrical tube having a plurality of aperatures on the peripheral wallthereof. the interiors of said tubes communicating with a vacuum sourcewhereby said leading end may be adhered thereto so as to be held inposition for connection to said terminal end. guide mechanism meansincluding guide rails and motor means for horizontally shifting each ofsaid swingable arms along said guide rails relative to said framebetween an outside preparatory position where said leading end may beadhered to its respective guide roll and adhesive means applied to oneside of said leading end and a central position where said guide rollsare adapted to be brought together to connect said leading end to saidterminal end. and means for moving said swingable arms to move saidguide rolls toward one another at said central position for pressingsaid leading end against said trailing end to effect a connection ofsaid webs.

2. A continuously feeding apparatus as claimed in claim I. wherein saidguide mechanism further includes sliding pieces slidingly mounted onsaid guide rails. and wherein said swingable arms are carried by saidsliding pieces.

3. A continuously feeding apparatus as claimed in g claim 2, and furtherincluding auxiliary arms carried by said sliding pieces. and meansacting through said auxiliary arms for swinging said swingable arms atsaid outside preparatory position.

6. A continuously feeding apparatus for rolled webs as claimed in claimI. in which a pair of cutters are provided and one of said cutters isactuated simultaneously when the leading end of the ready web isconnected to the terminal end of the running web to cut the latter web7. A continously feeding apparatus for rolled webs as claimed in claimI. in which a pair of pressure rolls are provided to give partialresistance to said rolled webs.

1. A CONTINUOUSLY FEEDING APPARATUS FOR CONNECTING THE LEADING END OF AREADY ROLLED WEB TO THE TERMINAL END OF A RUNNING ROLLED WEB TO CONTINUETHE FEEDING OF WEBS, COMPRISING A PAIR OF SUPPORT ARMS MOUNTED ON AFRAME FOR SUPPORTING SAID ROLLED WEBS, A PAIR OF GUIDE ROLLS, A PAIR OFSWINGABLE ARMS MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME FOR SUPPORTING EACH OF SAID GUIDEROLLS, EACH OF SAID GUIDE ROLLS INCLUDING A CYLINDRICAL TUBE HAVING APLURALITY OF APERATURES ON THE PERIPHERAL WALL THEREOF, THE INTERIORS OFSAID TUBES COMMUNICATING WITH A VACUUM SOURCE WHEREBY SAID LEADING ENDMAY BE ADHERED THERETO SO AS TO BE HELD IN POSITION FOR CONNECTION TOSAID TERMINAL END, GUIDE MECHANISM MEANS INCLUDING GUIDE RAILS AND MOTORMEANS FOR HORIZONTALLY SHIFTING EACH OF SAID SWINGABLE ARMS ALONG SAIDGUIDE RAILS RELATIVE TO SAID FRAME BETWEEN AN OUTSIDE PREPARATORYPOSITION WHERE SAID LEADING END MAY BE ADHERED TO ITS RESPECTIVE GUIDEROLL AND ADHESIVE MEANS APPLIED TO ONE SIDE OF SAID LEADING END AND ACENTRAL POSITION WHERE SAID GUIDE ROLLS ARE ADAPTED TO BE BROUGHTOGETHER TO CONNECT SAID LEADING END TO SAID TERMINAL END, AND MEANS FORMOVING SAID SWINGABLE ARMS TO MOVE SAID GUIDE ROLLS TOWARD ONE ANOTHERAT SAID CENTRAL POSITON FOR PRESSING SAID LEADING END AGAINST SAIDTRAILING END TO EFFECT A CONNECTION OF SAID WEBS.
 2. A continuouslyfeeding apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said guide mechanismfurther includes sliding pieces slidingly mounted on said guide rails,and wherein said swingable arms are carried by said sliding pieces.
 3. Acontinuously feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 2, and furtherincluding auxiliary arms carried by said sliding pieces, and meansacting through said auxiliary arms for swinging said swingable arms atsaid outside preparatory position.
 4. A continuously feeding apparatusas claimed in claim 2, wherein said means for moving said swingable armsat said central position includes auxiliary arms connected to saidsliding pieces, and air cylinder means acting between said auxiliaryarms and said swingable arms.
 5. A continuously feeding apparatus asclaimed in claim 3, wherein said means acting through said auxiliaryarms include a gearing arrangement driven by a motor and sprocket drive.6. A continuously feeding apparatus for rolled webs as claimed in claim1, in which a pair of cutters are provided and one of said cutters isactuated simultaneously when the leading end of the ready web isconnected to the terminal end of the running web to cut the latter web.7. A continously feeding apparatus for rolled webs as claimed in claim1, in which a pair of pressure rolls are provided to give partialresistance to said rolled webs.